Costco or Sam's club??

[3PrezGirls]

I would love to join Costco but one is so far. I have belonged to both BJs and Sam's and BJs is by far better in my opinion so my vote for you would be Costco since Sam's is usually dirty and the lines are crazy plus they are part of Walmart and because of their employee practices I don't shop there. That's another story though.

 

[branv]

To me, comparing Sams to Costco is like comparing Walmart to Target. Anything owned by Walmart company is just always dingier, more crowded, cheaper (not in a good way) products and awful customer service. I walk into Sam's and expect to see a rat. I walk into Costco and I feel like I'm walking into the world's cleanest warehouse We always get amazing service, and we love the products they carry. I've told this story before, but DH once broke the glass carafe of a coffee maker we bought from Costco. We called them up to see if they happened to have a spare one lying around we could buy, and that's when we found out that even when it's our fault something breaks, we can return it. WOW!

One thing I found weird was that this summer I had to go with my mom to Sam's to stock up for a birthday party, and you couldn't just buy one bag of chips?? Weird.

The Costcos here take debit card as well as American Express, cash or check. We wanted an American Express and went through Costco to get it. Rather than having to pay AMEX's annual fee, and Costco's annual membership fee, when you get the Amex/costco credit card you only pay one annual fee of $45 total for both.

 

[mom2alix]

Here's an interesting article on Costco. Branv is right, the article is subtitled "the anti-Walmart". We don't have Costco here, but had one close when we lived in Atlanta area and LOVED it. I hope we get one here soon.

 

[mmcguire]

Thanks for more and more helpful info. I'm thinking I'm leaning towards Costco...in part because of all of the great reviews here..plus it's a little closer to us and also because I'm thinking now that my mom might have a membership with Sam's. I will have to check with her but if she does then I think I'll stick with Costco...as I can always tag along w/her to Sam's and vice versa. Thanks everyone!

Does anyone know if the fee to join renews on a calendar basis or is it a year from when you originally joined? For instance if I pay a $50 membership fee now in March..will I have to pay again in Jan 2008 or will it be March 2008?

Costco's membership fee is charged a year after you join. Someone also asked earlier about debit cards -- Costco does accept debit cards if they are part of a major network (such as Honor). I have a Bank of America debit card and that is what I always use (except when we bought a laptop there -- we got cash out of savings to pay for that).

For the record we LOVE Costco for their excellent product quality, business practices, and customer service. They mail out a free monthly magazine, and I have learned a lot about the quality of the private label products they sell. For instance, the Kirkland frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts are produced by Perdue, and before Costco would sell it under their house brand name, they gave Perdue stringent quality guidelines, which required trimming ALL visible fat from the chicken. That means the Kirkland private label quality from Costco is actually better than buying Perdue chicken from a regular grocery store. They also sell a surprising amount of organic foods at prices comparable to non-organic.

 

[JoiseyMom]

I belong to both, and there are certain items I buy at Sam's that I can't get at Costco, and certain things I can buy at Costco that I can't get at Sam's. They are both good, go to both stores, and see what they sell and then decide.

 

[mom2my3kids]

We only have Sams Club here..I am a member and love the store.

 

[mrsstats]

I belong to Sam's, Costco and BJ's. I find Sams & Costco to be on the same level as far as meats. However, I prefer Sam's for the frozen vegs as they carry Birdseye & Costco has Kirkland (which I dont think are as good. It seems to me that Costco is getting high priced on alot of their non food items. i find each store has something better than the other. I agree with the others, get a day pass. Even if you dont buy anything at least you can see for yourself.

 

[Tinkerbelle99]

I just wanted to add, since alot of posters mention Costco's return policy as being a perk....

...it was recently announced on the news that Costco is changing its return policy and by April all the stores will be adhering to it. I dont remember the specifics, but they will be creating a timetable for certain items. however anyone who has ever dealt with Costco in the past knows that you can return anything you buy at Costco. No matter how long ago you bought, what caused the defect, or what condition the item is in. They never asked you a single question, you wanted to return it? they accepted it and gave you a gift card...

..."surprisingly" enough they stated their reasoning behind changing their policy is that they were losing money...i am not business major or financial wizard...but I always wondered how they managed to stay in business with a 'lack of' return policy.

 

[branv]

I just wanted to add, since alot of posters mention Costco's return policy as being a perk....

...it was recently announced on the news that Costco is changing its return policy and by April all the stores will be adhering to it. I dont remember the specifics, but they will be creating a timetable for certain items. however anyone who has ever dealt with Costco in the past knows that you can return anything you buy at Costco. No matter how long ago you bought, what caused the defect, or what condition the item is in. They never asked you a single question, you wanted to return it? they accepted it and gave you a gift card...

..."surprisingly" enough they stated their reasoning behind changing their policy is that they were losing money...i am not business major or financial wizard...but I always wondered how they managed to stay in business with a 'lack of' return policy.

The new policy (though I think I read it's rolling out at different times in different markets) is that now electronics must be returned in 90 days. BUT, if I read this right, they are also offering an additional 2 year warranty (or double the manufacturers...can't remember which). And this applies only to electronics purchased after February 25.

I didn't read that they were changing the returns on any other products.

 

[mamalle]

I belong to all 3- costco is my favorite. I dont like the fact though it doesnt open till 10am. I like going to Bj's at 0800 after I drop off the kids at school. Plus they have alot of the products they like. BJ's offered me a better deal on a membership also last year and I was for 1.5 years unlike my costco one for $50. Sams I just joined prior to xmas to buy a bounce house for the kids so I havent physically been into the store..

 

[gweny70]

Thanks everyone for the great info and feedback!

 

[mnasf]

Ok..I want to join one of these warehouse stores but not sure which is better??? I know there is also a BJ's around...but it's quite a good distance from me compared to Costco's or Sam's. Anyone have any input on which is the better place to join?

TIA!

I used to have memberships to both. Now I just have Sam's Club. It is a lot less busy where I live which is a plus to me. They open earlier than Costco. I have a business membership which makes the opening time even earlier. I found that Sam's was always a few pennies cheaper on the things I was buying. I also found the Sam's Club employees friendlier. The day passes are a good idea though. I think each club is different in different areas of the country. For example, our Sam's Club in Dallas was bigger and had gasoline. Hear in N. CA., Walmart and Sam's is limited on size, etc.

 

[mnasf]

To me, comparing Sams to Costco is like comparing Walmart to Target. Anything owned by Walmart company is just always dingier, more crowded, cheaper (not in a good way) products and awful customer service.

Wow, that's not my experience here in northern California where I used to have memberships to both. Costco is a zoo where it's hard to find parking and Sam's is easy to find parking and quick to get through the lines. I found a lot of name brands, too. And the employees couldn't be nicer to me. The Costco people seemed like robots or something. I guess it really depends upon where you live!

 

[mnasf]

[ So neither of them accept Debit/Visa card? Does anyone know? Guess I will find out when I stop in! [/QUOTE]


Sam's club does the debit card and I know it does Discover which is what I use. I think it might also use MasterCard. Of course, they have their own credit cards like Costco. If I remember right, Costco took debit, too.

 

[gweny70]

To me, comparing Sams to Costco is like comparing Walmart to Target. Anything owned by Walmart company is just always dingier, more crowded, cheaper (not in a good way) products and awful customer service.

Wow, that's not my experience here in northern California where I used to have memberships to both. Costco is a zoo where it's hard to find parking and Sam's is easy to find parking and quick to get through the lines. I found a lot of name brands, too. And the employees couldn't be nicer to me. The Costco people seemed like robots or something. I guess it really depends upon where you live!

Thanks for giving your experience! I am starting to think that it varies somewhat from one location to the other. I will getting a day pass and checking them out this weekend I hope!

 

[JandJ]

Costco - definitely! We have a Sam's pretty close but we drive 30 minutes to go to Costco. I think the posters who said Costco is like Target and Sam's is like Wal-Mart got it right. We are a Target-Costco family I love it because the Costco is right next to the Super Target so I can get almost an entire month's worth of grocery shopping done in one trip!